Despite the launch of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (
"I am against the merger," said Lin Po-lun (
"Vote captain" is a term used to describe influential local personalities who are capable of gathering votes for candidates.
"The reason I'm against it is that people in southern Taiwan generally do not have a good impression of Mainlanders," Lin said, referring to the widespread impression of the PFP as a "Mainlander party."
PFP members have strongly disputed this characterization.
The PFP's perceived aggressiveness is another reason that many grassroots KMT members find the merger proposal unattractive, said a grassroots KMT supporter surnamed Chen.
"The KMT is a party of mo-desty," said Chen, a resident of Kaohsiung City.
"The PFP has left us with the impression of being belligerent and aggressive, which we do not like," Chen said.
Chen's remarks echo those of KMT Legislator Tseng Tsai Mei-tsuo (
"Believing that the KMT should uphold an image of being rational and moderate, many grassroots supporters find the PFP's actions unacceptable," said Tseng Tsai, who represents a constituency in Yunlin County.
Tseng Tsai was referring to behavior such as that displayed by PFP Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) on election night.
Outraged by the results of the presidential election -- in which Lien, running on a ticket with his PFP counterpart James Soong (
Meanwhile, PFP Legislator Shen Chih-hui (
On the Friday following the election, PFP Legislators Lee Ching-hua (
"[The Taipei demonstrations] definitely had a strong effect -- in an unfavorable way -- on locals' impressions of the PFP," said Tseng Tsai, referring to the series of street demonstrations that the KMT-PFP alliance, in its attempt to challenge the result of the election, staged in front of the Presidential Office in the weeks following the voting.
One demonstration in particular left a bad impression: the one on April 10, which turned ugly and violent as some protesters refused to leave the protest site when the event's permit expired.
Clashes broke out between riot police and angry demonstrators, resulting in injuries to 127 people, including 86 police officers, 27 protesters and 14 reporters, according to Taipei police.
It was noticeable that among the pan-blue politicians who addressed the protesters at the protest venues, PFP legislators spent noticeably more time behind the microphone than did KMT figures.
The KMT's pro-localization members kept a comparatively low profile throughout the events.
Some KMT legislators, particularly those representing the nation's central and southern constituencies, questioned the wisdom of holding street demonstrations.
Tseng Tsai said that the KMT had in recent years transformed its public image from one strongly associated with Mainlanders into one that now, as a result of the party's cultivating younger Taiwanese politicians, seems more in touch with the nation and its people.
"Many grassroots leaders have expressed concern that the KMT might be again become `Mainlander-ized' or 'PFP-ized' should it merge with the PFP," Tseng Tsai said of the doubts harbored by a large segment of grassroots KMT supporters.
Soong formed the PFP after his failed campaign during the presidential race in 2000.
"The PFP then broke away from the KMT because of ideolo-gical differences," Tseng Tsai said.
"The PFP needs to make clear the reasons that it now wants to rejoin the KMT," he said.
Chiu Teh-hung (
Chiu said the phrase "exterior competition" is easy to understand, as it refers to the KMT's political rivals in the pan-green camp, and that "interior worry" refers to the KMT's concerns about the PFP's ambitions.
Chiu said that the PFP, via its high-profile protests against the Chen Shui-bian administration, had left vast numbers of pan-blue supporters with the impression that it is overly combative -- but that it has consequently attracted support from so-called "deep blues."
"With its deep-blue supporters running off to the PFP and its moderate voters drifting to the pan-green camp as result of moderates' disapproval of the street protests, how much support will the KMT be able to draw on in the year-end legislative elections?" said Chiu, who is also the chief of staff for the vice speaker of the Miaoli County Council.
Echoing Chiu's comments, KMT Legislator Chang Chang-tsai (
Taiwan Solidarity Union legislative leader Chen Chien-ming (
"If the KMT lowers its guard, it could get beaten by the PFP [in the December elections]," Chen Chien-ming said.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during